KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced its 2020-21 Men's Basketball Preseason Top 25 Poll on Wednesday as Mid-America Christian coming off one of its best seasons in program history was picked second on the esteemed list.
The Evangels received 563 votes and three first-place votes, finishing 15 votes back of Georgetown (Ky.) with 578 total votes and 12 first-place votes. Indiana Wesleyan came in third with 555, William Penn (Iowa) in fourth with 512 and rounding out the top five was Lewis & Clark State (Idaho) with 506 votes.
Mid-America Christian is coming off a 30-2 season while becoming the first Sooner Athletic Conference team to finish with just one conference loss since the 2009-10 Oklahoma Baptist team, going 19-1 in league play.
The Evangels were selected to compete in the program's fourth NAIA National Tournament, earning the program's first ever No. 1 seed, but unfortunately MACU didn't get the chance to compete for its second NAIA National Championship after the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite MACU losing some key pieces from last year's team, the Evangels bring back an experienced lineup, headlined by senior guard Terrance Jones. Last season, Jones was named an All-SAC Second Team honoree and was an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention after scoring 13.8 points per game on a 56.7 percent shooting clip while also shooting 36.4 percent from three and 76.6 percent from the free throw line.
Jones also finished second on the team in rebounding at 5.8 boards per game while also notching 52 assists, 34 steals and 15 blocks. The 6-5 guard from Dallas, Texas was particularly great late in the season for the Evangels, averaging 21.8 ppg on 59.1 percent shooting from the field and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe while ripping down 8.0 rpg through the final five games.
The Evangels will also be expecting some big time play out of returning starters Tony Dorsey and Dominick Ford, as well as a couple of other strong senior leaders in Marvin Lowe, Damarius Brooks and Carlos Slaughter.
Mid-America Christian will also expect some strong production from some of its newcomers, including Malik Malone, who redshirted during the 2019-20 season as well as junior guard Jasiah Lewis, junior forward Derrick Magiya and junior guard Caleb Riggs.
The Evangels will officially open the season on Tuesday, Oct. 27 as MACU will host Ecclesia (Ark.) for a 6 p.m. tipoff in the Gaulke Activity Center.
